Neuralink Brain Implants Move Towards Human Trials

“Our Mission, to unlock human potential.” Well, at least that’s what they say on the tin.

Neuralink, the first human-brain biotech startup owned by none other than the now notorious Elon Musk has begun to move towards human trials. Their aim? To connect human brains to computers, allowing us to control devices with our minds. Their first step in that direction is to find people with paralysis on whom to commence their testing. After finally winning US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for a primary for their human trial back in May, Neuralink is actively seeking ten suitable candidates to receive their brain implant devices. on whom they can implant their devices.

This isn’t the first time that Neuralink has featured on the headlines. Previously in December 2022, the firm faced scrutiny over allegations of unethical animal testing that their trials killed over 1,500 animals since 2018, including pigs, sheep, and monkeys. This led to a federal investigation. The tech newspaper, WIRED was able to request access to California public records of the company that revealed a chronicle of complications involving surgical implantation into monkey’s brains. These complications included partial paralysis and cerebral edema and brain swelling amongst many other awful conditions. One female monkey in particular, referred to as “Animal 15” was particularly distressed, and after her implant surgery she began to press her head against the floor for no visible reason, and would pick at her implant causing blood loss, and would often lie at the foot of her cage and spend time holding hands with her roommate. Towards the end of her life, she began to lose coordination and culminated in shaking uncontrollably, leading to her euthanization. A necropsy report that happened concluded that she had undergone brain bleeding and that the implants left parts of her cerebral cortex “focally tattered”.

More recently, Elon Musk tweeted asserting that “No monkey has died as a result of a Neuralink implant” mentioning that they had chosen terminal monkeys that were already close to death. However, an interview with a former Neuralink employee by WIRED proved otherwise. According to the former employee, they “had these monkeys for a year or so before any surgery was performed”, calling Musk’s claims “ridiculous” and a “straight fabrication”.

The BBC also spoke to some employees who tied the failed tests and animal abuse to pressure from Mr Musk to accelerate research as the company worked on developing the brain implant.

Currently the capabilities of Neuralink are fairly limited, however the company has demonstrated its capabilities in some of their numerous events. The implant can be used to stimulate a visual sensation and a flash of light in a monkey’s brain. They’ve also demonstrated another accomplishment in a video posted in April 2021 of a Macaque playing the video game pong using only the brain implant. In 2020, an event showed two pigs walking onto a stage, demonstrating the safety of the implant, and simultaneously showed the brain signals from one of the pigs on a display.

Figure 1 – The Brain Scans using Neuralink of one of the Pigs

Figure 2 – Monkey typing using its mind in Neuralink animal trials

The possibility for this company to move forward with human trials given their substantial history of animal abuse is a move which they should not be allowed to make. This is an incredibly unethical idea that could not only lose to the loss of control of what happens inside our own brains, but also handing over power of the unconscious to any human that knows how to control the software, leaving us vulnerable to hacking, government espionage and any heath side effects that could results. Giving a company owned by Elon Musk power over your brain, despite the brave claims the firm makes is a risky decision.

References

Elon Musk on X: ‘@psychosort No Monkey Has Died as a Result of a Neuralink Implant. First Our Early Implants, to Minimize Risk to Healthy Monkeys, We Chose Terminal Moneys (Close to Death Already),’ / X. 10 Sept. 2023, https://web.archive.org/web/20230910145901/https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1700825786326896950.

Mehrotra, Dhruv. ‘The Gruesome Story of How Neuralink’s Monkeys Actually Died’. Wired. www.wired.com, https://www.wired.com/story/elon-musk-pcrm-neuralink-monkey-deaths/. Accessed 21 Sept. 2023.

Mullin, Emily. ‘All the Actually Important Stuff Neuralink Just Announced’. Wired. www.wired.com, https://www.wired.com/story/all-the-actually-important-stuff-neuralink-just-announced/. Accessed 21 Sept. 2023.

‘Neuralink: What You Need to Know about Elon Musk’s Brain Chip Company’. Reuters, 7 Dec. 2022. www.reuters.com, https://www.reuters.com/technology/what-does-elon-musks-brain-chip-company-neuralink-do-2022-12-05/.

Studio, Play. ‘Neuralink’. Neuralink, https://neuralink.com/?202308049001. Accessed 21 Sept. 2023.